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E-learning

Let’s be honest online class during this awful covid-19 period has not been great. The rise of the coronavirus brought about the unfortunate shutdown of schools all across the country. As a result, the education system changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. Because of this some people always question why the online class is so difficult and try to find which solutions on how to adjust to it.

The transition to online learning has allowed for some liberties for most students to work at their own pace, but for some this online class has been hellish; from getting the right internet connection to understanding how most of these e-learning platforms work, this online learning season has not been great. And to add salt to the already opened wound of such students some schools have decided to continue with online learning to control and prevent the spread of the virus as we return to school.

Difficulties with online classrooms

Though online learning is practical at this moment in time, it like every human invention has negative effects. These negatives affect the participants differently. Not being able to focus on what is being taught, gaining access to fairly good internet, or the major problem of socio-economic differences, where some students from much higher socioeconomic standing are more likely to have a working computer or a laptop in their home than those from lower socio-economic standing.

And for the major issues of internet access, socioeconomic differences play quite a role; for this, we have well to do households being more likely to have a consistent broadband internet connection than poorer households.

This unavailability of computers in the homes of low-income households, basically force children to gain access to their online classroom learning only through their mobile phones, which makes the completion and uploading of work onto an e-platform very difficult. Whatever the problem may be, the truth is that though the online class is revolutionary it has a lot of fixable underlying negatives.

Tips on how to adjust to an online class.

Online learning is straining and a little difficult to adjust to, it poses a lot of problems for some, and for others, it is a walk in the park. Here are some tips to have a successful online class.

1. Task it out!

Like the saying goes “the shorter way to do many things is to do one at a time”. So don’t stress yourself out trying to accomplish many tasks during a short period. To avoid this unwanted stress start early, don’t put off a task, do the short and simple task within a short burst. Start with minutes then gradually grow it into hours. So if you have let’s say three assignments to complete over four days or maybe less, you could allocate five minutes to breaking down the whole process into short tasks with an allocated time for each part; this could be a couple of minutes or an hour each for a task. I would start with ten minutes to do a quick research on themes then paraphrase the information. What would you start with?

2. Take handwritten notes

Give yourself something to do during the class because staring at the screen for prolonged periods can take a toll on your eyes. Doing this also allows you to break the monotony and keep you invested in the class. Take breaks from the screen and take down notes with a handy pen and notebook. Doing this also prevents you from getting tired and allows you to retain some information on the class. remember to review the notes you took; compare them to the notes given by the lecturer.

3. No distraction zone

Discipline. This is a major part of the e-learning process without this there may be a temptation to get distracted from the work given and with no one constantly nudging and urging you to study over the computer you might fail to complete your learning goals. Distraction is everywhere so to focus on online learning be firm and go the extra step to eliminating them. Do not establish your study classroom in your kitchen or dining area, avoid places in your home, hostel, or hall with a lot of commotion. Establish a quiet workspace in your room or study hall, but to be safe find an empty and available classroom or the closest library. Make sure to turn off TVs and radios and pull your study material off the browser or make it the only item on the browser no Netflix, no Twitter, no Facebook, no WhatsApp just you and your online material. Make sure you are comfortable and if that means studying with music do so and be mindful of others in the library.

4. Reward yourself

Truth be told online class is work, so take study breaks to make sure you are not burning yourself out. You can add it to your task so if you study or work on your project for an hour you can take a ten-minute break, do as you please with your break, reward yourself with a snack, or use the social media platform of your choice like Instagram. In rewarding yourself remember to get back to studying, if you feel taking a short social media break might tempt you into forgetting about your studies, or if it might get you feeling too lazy to go on, turn your breaks into a review period or a quiz time to either answer or set your sample questions for what you studied, doing this might give you the break you may need.

5. Internet and computers

It is called online learning for a reason. So access to a fairly good internet connection and a working computer, laptop or an internet-enabled mobile phone is quite important. Without a connection to the internet and a working computer, it becomes impossible to partake in an online class. Make sure to sort yourself out before the class starts. If you are not in access to one you could use computers provided by your school or borrow one from a willing friend.

6. Have an open mind

Some students have the idea that online class is difficult and that it takes away the in-class learning experience. If anything e-learning prevents the stress of trying to keep up with the class and all the anxiety of being called upon by a lecture and answering wrongly or being distracted by friends in class. So don’t go into an online class thinking that it might suck but keep an open mind.

Studies now show that online learning has been found to increase retention of material, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus might have caused could be here to stay, so when you find yourself in an online class you might as well pay attention and get something out of it. Schools and their teaching staff need to be more understanding of the fact the home ( halls, hostels, homestel) environment for every student is very different, most students stay over after school lets out because they need the silence to concentrate because they cannot get it at home or in their various halls and hostels.

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